This invention relates to platform accessories, and particularly to platform accessories for use with straight ladders.
For countless decades the straight ladder has enabled man to elevate himself and perform tasks which otherwise would be beyond his reach. Few individuals have not had occasion to mount a ladder to perform such tasks as painting or repairing an overhead or tall structure, for example. Even the novice ladder climber realizes that some peril attends ascension of a ladder and that a delicate balance must be maintained to avoid danger.
Professionals who remain perched aloft for untold hours are also conscious of the tiring stress of a prolonged stance in an arch-over-rung position. A sustained stance on a ladder rung often causes fatigue of tendons and leg muscles, and may even result in soreness and abrasions to the shin should one lean forward against a higher rung.
The advent of the flat-top rung offered some relief to the sore-arched professional, but did not eliminate the above problems altogether. Various ladder-attached platforms have also appeared through the years, usually comprising a flat platform mounted above a lower rung and suspended from a higher rung. Examples of such devices are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 407,079 to Laskey; 1,760,803 to Wirth; 1,920,552 to Dollerhide; 2,067,188 to Hennessy; 2,104,987 to Harding; 2,419,727 to Picone; 2,488,984 to Pennington; 2,500,559 to Miller; and 2,578,862 to Tims.
Few at best of the ladder-attached platforms disclosed in the prior art appear to have sufficiently remedied the problems attendant ladder usage to merit commercial acceptability. Most devices of this type suffer from an unnerving instability. One factor contributing to the instability of such devices is the excessive tolerances with which prior-art hook-like structures engage rungs from which the platform is suspended. Although some devices seek to lessen such tolerances by additionally incorporating various fastening or securing means, repeated loosening and tightening of the additional means when changing the position of the platform requires extra effort and time.
Prior art ladder-attached platforms are also unstable inasmuch as the body weight of the user is often not properly positioned with respect to the platform. In this respect, many devices are dimensioned and mounted so that the center of gravity of the ladder user causes the platform to rock, wobble, or even slip.
Therefore, an object of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory which permits a user to stand firmly erect, thereby eliminating abnormal pressure and strain to the arches, balls of the feet, leg and back muscles, and the shin.
An advantage of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory wherein a user's center of gravity is positioned above a rung of a ladder.
Another advantage of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory having ample, unobstructed footing in both width and depth.
Another advantage of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory that will not rock nor slip.
Another advantage of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory which may easily be changed from one ladder rung to another.
Yet another advantage of this invention is the provision of a ladder platform accessory wherein a platform portion may be selectively adjustable to remain essentially horizontally oriented although the ladder may be utilized through a range of inclinations to the vertical.